Did You Know...

Earlier this month a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine found no evidence that flu shots reduce deaths among the elderly. This morning brings word from The Lancet that flu shots don’t work at all among another large high-risk group: children under the age of 2. Reuters reports:

There is no evidence that vaccinating children under two-years-old reduces deaths or complications from the illness, researchers say.

Researchers have reviewed 25 studies that looked at the impact of vaccines in reducing the number of cases of influenza and its symptoms in children up to 16.

Children under two are vaccinated against the illness in the United States and Canada.

“Immunisation of very young children is not lent support by our findings,” Dr Tom Jefferson, part of the International Cochrane Collaboration that evaluates medical research, said.

“We recorded no convincing evidence that vaccines can reduce mortality, admissions, serious complications and community transmission of influenza,” he said….

“In young children, below the age of two, we could find no evidence that the vaccine was different from a placebo,” Dr Jefferson said.

Related:

-I first raised questions about the efficacy of flu shots in this post last fall.

-Questions about the value of the Hepatitis B vaccine for young children here.